Conversation No. 799-23

Date: October 16, 1972
Time: 3:59 pm - 4:30 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Gen. Creighton W. Abrams, Jr., Melvin R. Laird and Alexander M. Haig,
Jr.

        Seating

        [Photographic session]

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 3:59 pm.

        The President's telephone calls

Bull left at an unknown time before 4:30 pm.

        [Photographic session]

        Vietnam Negotiations
            -Henry A. Kissinger’s schedule
            -Political settlement
                 -International Control Commission
                      -Changes in language
            -Settlement
                 -Nguyen Van Thieu
                      -Abrhams’s view
                 -Casualties
                 -Prisoners of War [POWs]
                 -Timing
                      -Political pressures
                           -1972 election
                                -The President’s conversation with Kissinger
                 -Thieu
            -US relations with South Vietnam
                 -History
                      -Military forces
                                35
         NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                         Tape Subject Log
                           (rev. Nov-03)

               -Tradition, training, leadership
          -Government
               -US aid
          -North Vietnamese situation
               -Hanoi
                    -Political structure
               -Manpower
     -Thieu
     -Conclusion of war
          -US military presence
               -Compared to Europe
                    -Legal system
     -South Vietnam
          -Abram’s view
     -Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China [PRC]
     -US domestic conditions
     -Future military resupply
          -Petroleum, oil, lubricants [POL]
          -Compared to recent past
          -POL
          -Ammunition
     -South Vietnamese leadership
          -Thieu's responsibilities
               -Justification
     -Abrams's schedule
          -Ellsworth F. Bunker, Thieu
               -Discussions
-South Vietnam's political future
     -North Vietnam
     -Coalition government
          -The President’s view
               -Survivability of South Vietnam
     -Thieu
          -Possible scenario
               -Cease-fire
               -Command of Army
               -Vietcong [VC]
-Prisoners in South Vietnamese prisons
     -Status and numbers
     -C category
     -Kissinger, Thieu
-Cease-fire supervision
                               36
        NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                       Tape Subject Log
                         (rev. Nov-03)

    -Effectiveness
        -Survivability of Thieu
-North Vietnam
    -Spring offensive
    -Casualties
        -South Vietnam
    -Mining, bombing effect
    -1972 election effect
    -PRC, Soviet Union
    -Effect of long war
    -1972 election effect
-South Vietnamese situation
    -Military considerations
        -Thieu’s concern
              -Saigon area
                   -Ben Cat, Nam Trop [sp?]
    -Political considerations
        -Thieu’s concern
              -US relations
                   -Conversations with Haig
    -Thieu
        -Psychological considerations
        -Handling of possible settlement
              -Time required
              -Kissinger’s point
              -Prisoners of war [POWs]
                   -1972 election
              -US support
        -1968 election
              -1953
        -1963 Ngo Dinh Diem's assassination
              -Diem’s generals
                   -Diem’s view of communism
        -Kissinger
        -1972 election
    -As possible obstacle to peace
        -North Vietnam
        -US public opinion
        -US economic aid, replacements
    -Bunker, Abrams's role in negotiations
    -North Vietnamese stance
        -Possible effect on Thieu’s tenure
                                              37
                       NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. Nov-03)

                 -Abrams’s and Bunker’s role
                      -Previous meeting with Haig
                          -Differences in political terms
                              -Coalition government
                          -The President’s recent conversation with Kissinger
                              -Coalition government
             -Abrams's schedule
                 -Alaska-Tokyo-Saigon
             -Thieu and US relations
                 -Publicity
                      -North Vietnam
             -History of war
                 -The President requesting Abrams’s opinion
                 -Cambodia, Laos, May 8, 1972 decision by the President
                      -US domestic opposition
                          -Demonstrations
                          -Establishment
                 -Support for Thieu
                      -US public opinion
                          -Communist government in South Vietnam

         Abrams
             -Office
             -US Army
                 -Morale
                     -US Army football
                     -Support from the President

         Vietnam War
             -Conclusion
                 -US bombing
                     -Civilians

         The President’s regards for Bunker


Abrams et al. left at 4:30 pm.